Antigone And Whale Rider Essay

665 Words2 Pages

Antigone Rides the Whale
Antigone, a play written by Sophocles, and Whale Rider directed by Niki Caro are stories that taking place in different eras and location but are very similar in storylines. The text Antigone and share a similar storyline and even share major themes. Both are about a young girl whose brother dies and she tries to uphold tradition but is constrained by her gender.
One of the most obvious similarities in both Antigone and Whale Rider, the brother of the protagonist dies. The death of the brother is what initiates the conflict. In Antigone, Antigone wants to give her brother a proper burial, though Kreon, the king and her uncle, insists that he should not be buried because he betrayed the state. Antigone's buries his body against Kreon’s orders. Kreon does not believe that Antigone could have broken the law and buried the Polyneices’ body because she is female. Paikea had a twin brother who died at birth. Her brother is supposed to be the new leader of the tribe. Koro, Paikea's grandfather and the current leader, believes that Paikea …show more content…

In , many Whale have beached themselves, this is a sign to Koro that he has failed to find a leader. When Paikea saves the whales and ends up in hospital, his attitude towards her changes and he has accepted that Paikea should be the new leader of the tribe, he even addresses her as ‘Wise Leader’. Kreon receives a prophecy from Teiresias. He predicts that if Kreon does not change his ways he will loose his son, ‘a corpse, exchange for corpses’. (pg.62) He then decides to release Antigone from the cave that he had sent to die in, only to realise that he is too late and Antigone has killed herself. After his son also kills himself he admits that he was wrong saying “Gone, gone! I was wrong, not you.” Kreon knows that he should have listened to Haimon and Antigone while they were still

Show More
Related

  • Free Essays: Oedipus Rex and Antigone

    908 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the end, however, Jocasta dies and Oedipus is overthrown and ruined. Like her parents, Antigone defies powerful authority. Unlike her parents though, that authority is not of the gods, but rather of a person who thinks he is a god: Creon, Antigone's uncle, great-uncle, and king. He proclaims that the body of Polyneices, Antigone's brother who fought against Thebes in war, would be left to rot unburied on the field, “He must be left unwept, unsepulchered, a vulture's prize..” (ANTIGONE, Antigone, 192).

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Antigone And Whale Rider

    755 Words  | 2 Pages

    Antigone comes from a Greek culture, with beliefs in many gods and punishment from them if they were to do something that would displease them. Paikea comes from the Maori Tribe from New Zealand, they have a belief in a legend that a man named Paikea was drowning because his brother had tried to drown him, and he called upon whales to save him. They think very highly of whales and will call on them during a time of need. In Antigone they believe that if you do something to offend to the gods, you will be punished, Creon was told that the god’s would retaliate if he did something bad, and he believed it, tried to fix his mistake, but it didn’t work. Paikea and her tribe will sing a song and call on the whales for help in a time of need,

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience In Fahrenheit 451

    1324 Words  | 3 Pages

    Antigone decides to betray Kreon’s law in order to honor the gods and their greater law. She says “you [Kreon], who are human/to violate the lawful traditions/the gods have not written merely, but made infallible,” defending her decision to bury the out-casted Polyneices because the law that prohibits it was not proclaimed by Zeus. When Kreon asks Antigone why she honors Eteokles (her other brother who also dies in the battle in Thebes) and Polyneices equally, she responds “Death is a god/who wants his laws obeyed,” corroborating the motive of why she upheld divine law over Kreon’s law (Sophocles 41). Even Haimon, Kreon’s own son and Antigone’s betrothed, supports Antigone by saying “the gods implant intelligence in humans/…that is the supreme one” (Sophocles 48). However, Antigone’s superior motive in giving Polyneices an honorable death is love. While conferring her plan with her sister, Ismene, Antigone tells her “He’s my brother an yours too/ and whether you will or not, I’ll stand by him,” indicating her love to her brother (Sophocles 22). In addition, Antigone is most direct with her intentions when she says “I am different. I love my brother/and I’m going to go bury him, now” (Sophocles 24). After Kreon asks Antigone why she dared to break his law, knowing the repercussions, she expresses that “if I had left my own brother stay unburied/I would have suffered all the pain I do not feel now,” further denoting her unwavering devotion to Polyneices even during her own conviction. Richard Emil Braun, an highly praised writer, also believes Antigone’s primary motive to bury her brother was love, as he says “The second burial of Polyneices shows that Antigone…did the deed, and not for money, but for love…Antigone was prompted by her love to fulfill a religious duty.” Civil disobedience to Antigone is

    Read More

  • Civil Disobedience In Antigone By Martin Luther King

    1278 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the play, Antigone, two brothers are killed in battle. One of them, Polyneices, is considered to be a rebel by the new ruler of Thebes, Creon. The corrupt and prideful king, Creon, created an edict that states that nobody could bury Polynices’s body because he was a traitor to Thebes and his family and denies the sanctification and burial of Polyneices's body because of his rebellion and intends to leave him to become the meal of wild animals. Polyneices's sister, Antigone, defies Creon by giving her brother a proper burial, no matter the consequences. Both King and Antigone sought to do what they thought was the right thing to do, even if it was against the law. Though King and Antigone are two completely different people from two completely different times, they were actually quite similar in that they both were minorities at a disadvantage, and lacking power and credibility among those in control. King and Antigone both fought for injustice and what they believed in, however, not necessarily in the same

    Read More

  • Antigone Essay

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    The character must decide whether or not to allow the employee’s cousin to work in their restaurant. The cousin must provide for his family through the cold winter or they will become homeless. The character also knows that the law requires him to check the citizenship of all employees and forbids him to hire anyone who is in the country illegally.

    Read More

  • Antigone Argumentative Essay

    760 Words  | 2 Pages

    How would you feel if your one mistake caused you to lose everything that is important to you? This happens to multiple celebrities, but one professional athlete it affects severely is Tiger Woods. According to Golf.com, Tiger lost everything from his personal relationships, to a yield in his professional career, all because he made the mistake of cheating on his wife. He contains many of the characteristics that one can consider him to be a tragic hero. One Greek tragedy that portrays a similar situation is Antigone by Sophocles. Creon makes the mistake of not listening to others, which causes him to lose all his loved ones and his kingdom. He best fits the mold of a tragic hero because he has the tragic flaw of excessive pride and he experiences an increased awareness.

    Read More

  • Antigone Complex Character Essay

    561 Words  | 2 Pages

    Sisters and brothers have a special bond that makes them who they are. Siblings fight and argue all the time, but they will always protect and feel responsible for each other. This is what causes Antigone to go against the law and bury her brother; she loves her siblings and will do anything for them, even risk her life. Because Antigone and Polyneices are brother and sister, they will always defend and be there for each

    Read More

  • Compare Antigone And The Bible

    762 Words  | 2 Pages

    Antigone, as a character, is extremely strong-willed and loyal to her faith. Creon is similarly loyal, but rather to his homeland, the city of Thebes, instead of the gods. Both characters are dedicated to a fault, a certain stubbornness that effectively blinds them from the repercussions of their actions. Preceding the story, Antigone has been left to deal with the burden of her parents’ and both her brothers’ deaths. Merely a young child, intense grief is to be expected; however, Antigone’s emotional state is portrayed as frivolous when it leads her to directly disobey Creon’s orders. She buries her brother Polynices because of her obedience to family and to the gods, claiming to follow “the gods’ unfailing, unwritten laws” (Sophocles 456-457). CONTINUE

    Read More

  • Describe The Relationship Between Antigone And Creon

    240 Words  | 1 Pages

    Antigone is the daughter of Oedipus, she has a sister, Ismene, two brothers, with a mother and an uncle, Creon. Antigone has watch her two brothers battle each other and soon slain each other. She is torn between the law and what is morally right. The brothers defended a side of their own in a war, one with the law, the other against it. Antigone’s father has passed away hence Creon being the new ruler. Creon's sworn to prohibit anyone to bury Polyneices, because of his treachery against the kingdom. While Eteocles, who fought with the kingdom, was given a soldier's funeral with military honor. Antigone begs her sister, Ismene, to help her bury Polyneices, but she declines in fear. Ismene warns Antigone not to harass the law and leaver their

    Read More

  • Sophocles Antigone And Creon Essay

    1050 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history rulers have used force in the pursuit of the acquiring more power and wealth, regardless of the consequences. The use of force may lead to the fulfillment of ones current interests or goals, but continued abuse of this power in pursuit of ones own interests has historically lead to the downfall of those in power. In the text The Prince Machiavelli says, “It is much safer to be feared than loved, if you cannot have both”. This quote suggests that when given the choice it is better for a ruler to use his power, through force if necessary, and be feared than to do what is right for the people and lose everything. In Sophocles’ Antigone, Thucydides History of the Peloponnesian War, and Sophocles’ Republic the analogy of the double-edged

    Read More

  • charant Character Changes in Sophocles' Antigone

    1452 Words  | 3 Pages

    In Sophocles' Greek tragedy, Antigone, two characters undergo character changes. During the play the audience sees these two characters' attitudes change from close-minded to open-minded. It is their close-minded, stubborn attitudes, which lead to their decline in the play, and ultimately to a series of deaths. In the beginning Antigone is a close minded character who later becomes open minded. After the death of her brothers, Eteocles and Polyneices, Creon becomes the ruler of Thebes. He decides that Eteocles will receive a funeral with military honors because he fought for his country. However, Polyneices, who broke his exile to " spill the blood of his father and sell his own people into slavery", will have no burial. Antigone disagrees with Creon's unjust actions and says, " Creon is not strong enough to stand in my way." She vows to bury her brother so that his soul may gain the peace of the underworld. Antigone is torn between the law placed against burying her brother and her own thoughts of doing what she feels should be done for her family. Her intent is simply to give her brother, Polyneices, a proper burial so that she will follow "the laws of the gods." Antigone knows that she is in danger of being killed for her actions and she says, "I say that this crime is holy: I shall lie down with him in death, and I shall be as dear to him as he to me." Her own laws, or morals, drive her to break Creon's law placed against Polyneices burial. Even after she realizes that she will have to bury Polyneices without the help of her sister, Ismene, she says: Go away, Ismene: I shall be hating you soon, and the dead will too, For your words are hateful. Leave me my foolish plan: I am not afraid of the danger; if it means death, It will not be the worst of deaths-death without honor. Here Ismene is trying to reason with Antigone by saying that she cannot disobey the law because of the consequences. Antigone is close-minded when she immediately tells her to go away and refuses to listen to her. Later in the play, Antigone is sorrowful for her actions and the consequences yet she is not regretful for her crime. She says her crime is just, yet she does regret being forced to commit it.

    Read More

  • Free Essays: Comparing the Themes of Antigone and Oedipus the King

    585 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Themes of Antigone and Oedipus Antigone and Oedipus, written by Sophocles, are dramatic plays with a tragic ending. The main theme for Antigone is that people sometimes have to learn the hard way from their mistakes. This theme is expressed in the final four lines of the play. They read, There is no happiness where there is no wisdom; No wisdom but in submission to the gods. Big words are always punished, and proud men of old age learn to be wise.

    Read More

  • Essay On Antigone And Frankenstein

    1631 Words  | 4 Pages

    “When I looked around, I saw and heard of none like me. Was I then a monster, a blot upon the earth, from which all men fled, and whom all men disowned?” (Shelley, Frankenstein 109). In Frankenstein, the Monster receives a life in which he cannot control the outcome, even though he tries to. While the Monster deals with fate, Antigone in Antigone exhibits full use of her free will. The two characters possess free will and both of them can claim victim to fate. However, the Monster has more of a right to make the plea of destiny while Antigone should own up to her deliberate actions. The Monster’s denial of acceptance by both his creator and society as well as his responding acts of violence can claim to exist as results of fate while Antigone’s actions exhibit free will from her decisions to break the law and act upon her pride.

    Read More

  • Comparing and Contrasting Sophocles' Antigone and Shakespeare's Othello

    963 Words  | 2 Pages

    The tragedies of Antigone and Othello were written with great depth and are structured in such a way that both characters are victims, in spite of their crimes. Antigone and Othello are tragedy plays created by using many techniques to create the feelings of fear and pity. There are differences and similarities in characters, action, and themes between Antigone and Othello.

    Read More

  • Sophocles' Antigone - The Real Tragedy

    605 Words  | 2 Pages

    At this time, the reader begins to feel sorry for the two sisters. They have lost their father and their two brothers, all at the same time. Later in the conversation, the reader learns that Antigone has a plan to bury her brother Polynices and that she wants Ismene to help her. Ismene is scared to do this because the new king, Creon, has issued a decree that says that any person that attempts to bury the body will be sentenced to death. The fact that Antigone is going to attempt to bury the body creates fear in the reader.

    Read More

More about Antigone And Whale Rider Essay

Open Document